Let's use this thread to post any information about the 2012 Republican presidential challengers. We all know His Hairness Trump is OUT, as is Huckabee. Newt is IN, as are T-PAW and and Huntsman...Ron Paul is always IN...for the third time...Santorum and Bachman will probably be announcing YEA soon...if the world doesn't come to an end on the 21st! .

In his first major television interview of his likely presidential campaign rollout this morning, former Utah Gov. and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman avoided his own Newt Gingrich moment. The House Republican plan to privatize Medicare? Count Huntsman in.

Huntsman, President Obama's last ambassador to China, is best known for his moderate positions on hot-button conservative issues like civil unions (he's for them), man-made climate change (he believes it exists) and even college tuition breaks for the children of illegal immigrants (he opposed Republican efforts to end them in Utah while Governor.)

He stood by all those positions in the interview with Stephanopoulos, staking his claim on the social moderate end of the Republican presidential field. But when it comes Republican plan to eliminate Medicare in favor of a voucher system, Huntsman's now staked his claim on the field's far right end.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

And is that awful screecher Sarah Palin trying to throw her hat into the GOP presidential ring? She's starting a national bus tour this weekend...she is certainly jealous of the attention the rest of the repubs seem to be getting...and she's bought a house in AZ, too... GAG! Hmmm...ever wonder why Sarah Palin's religion is never discussed or brought up by the media? I've been wondering...where does Sarah attend church every Sunday?

Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:53 pmPosts: 690Location: Between East and West

We all know what "snowflake snooky" is doing, aka falin palin.....adding more money to her "lock box" for future deals....back scratchers... She's following "fox hair big dick" Trumpie trying to show who gets the most "dumpy fox" news spots. She will fade into the sunset.

As for "I came out from under the rocks"....Michele Bachmann, or what ever her name is to a pin the tag...I'm the 2012 bitch who wants to be President. Yesterday, she said, "I will announce next week that she will announce when she will announce if she will announce to run for 2012."Sounds just like some of her stupid remarks. Always making good sense.

_________________If you think you are beaten, your are. If you think you dare not, you won't. If you like to win, but you think you can't, it is most certain you won't.

In rhetorical excesses marking his entry in the presidential campaign, Mitt Romney said the economy worsened under President Barack Obama, when it actually improved, and criticized the president for issuing apologies to the world that were never made.

A look at some of the statements by Romney on Thursday in announcing his bid for the Republican nomination and how they compare with the facts:

ROMNEY: "When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse. And he made it last longer."

THE FACTS: The gross domestic product, the prime measure of economic strength, shrank by a severe 6.8 percent annual rate before Obama became president. The declines eased after he took office and economic growth, however modest, resumed. The recession officially ended six months into his presidency. Unemployment, however, has worsened under Obama, going from 7.8 percent in January 2009 to 9.1 percent last month. It hit 10.1 percent in October 2009.

A case can be made for and against the idea that Obama's policies made the economy worse than it needed to be and that the recession lasted longer than it might have under another president. Such arguments are at the core of political debate. But Obama did not, as Romney alleged, make the economy worse than it was when he took office.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

WHAT T-PAW DOESN'T SAY IS IT'S A BETTER DEAL FOR CORPORATIONS AND THE AMERICAN ARISTOCRATS!

Tim Pawlenty delivered a speech Tuesday morning at the University of Chicago, laying out an economic platform that he is dubbing a "Better Deal" -- in a clear word-play on such past progressive economic policies as Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and Harry Truman's Fair Deal. Though of course, Pawlenty's proposals are quite a bit different.

Pawlenty's proposals would involve drastic slashing of tax rates: The corporate tax rate would be reduced from 35% to 15%, and the income tax would now take up only two brackets of 10% and 25%.

Pawlenty would in turn drastically cut spending, including some possible cuts or privatizations/eliminations of services that people have taken for granted. "Now there's some obvious targets. We can start by what I call 'The Google Test.' If you can find a service or a good available on Google, or the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn't need to be providing that good or service," said Pawlenty. "The post office, the government printing office, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and others, were all built for a time in our country and a different chapter in our economy, when the private sector didn't adequately provide those services. But that's no longer the case."

Thus, Pawlenty is clearing placing himself staunchly on the right, with a program that would drastically change the shape of the federal government as Americans have known it. In an environment where the GOP has run into trouble over Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) proposals to privatize Medicare, will these ideas fly with the general public beyond the GOP primary base?

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

During an appearance on CNN this evening, GOP presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) hinted that he would push for a federal constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage if he were elected president, arguing that gay or lesbian relationships could destabilize the culture, rob children “of the potential of having a mom and a dad,” and undermine religious liberties:

SANTORUM: Once people realize the consequence to society of changing this definition, it’s not that we’re against anybody. People can live the life they want to live. They can do whatever they want to do in the privacy of their home with respect to that activity. Now you’re talking about changing the laws of the country. and it could have a profound impact on society, on faith, on education. Once people realize that, they say, you know what, we respect people’s life to live the life they want to lead but don’t change how with that definition.

Watch it:

Santorum did not talk about what impact a federal ban would have on the same-sex couples and families currently residing in the five states (plus the District of Columbia) that extend gay and lesbian people all of the rights and obligations of marriage.

YEP..IT'S WHAT MARRIAGE IS ALL ABOUT...TO POP BABIES OUT INTO THE WORLD!

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Tim Pawlenty has a plan for America, and it would force the government out of just about every sphere of American life where it exists now.

Pawlenty's tax plan, by design and effect, would dramatically erode the government's revenue base. As noted here, his plan would reduce the top individual income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, cut the top corporate rate from 25 percent to 15 percent, and allow pass-through corporations to pay taxes at the corporate -- not the individual -- rate. He also wants to completely eliminate capital gains taxes, taxes on dividends and interest, and the estate tax.

An independent analysis found that it would cost the Treasury over $11 trillion over the course of a decade -- nearly three times the cost of the Bush tax cuts -- most of which would benefit the wealthiest Americans.

But how severe would the upward redistribution be? The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities crunched the numbers and came up with a handy chart.

After taxes, the very wealthiest people in the country would see their after-tax income spike by over one-third. Those on the other end of the income spectrum would hardly notice the bump. And that's to say nothing of the fact that, without all that revenue, the government would no longer be able to fund the services many middle class and lower income Americans depend on.

From CBPP: "In 2013 the Pawlenty plan would give people in the top one-tenth of 1 percent on the income scale (i.e., people with incomes above $2.7 million) an average annual tax cut of $1.8 million"

His plan is driving the debate among GOP presidential hopefuls. Though not all of them will ultimately match his cuts or exceed them, they will certainly be using it as a benchmark.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman